I'm still playing...

...with the LOTV images I bought.

I did buy rather a lot LOL...so it is taking me quite a while to work my way through them.

I have loved this image for quite some time so when LOTV had one of their super sales - it was a "no brainer" that this would be amongst my selection...

...I didn't go for a traditional colour scheme on this (although I do love the samples I've seen with this little miss in Christmas red) but went for blues & pinks. I still have some papers from the "Silver Bells" range that I think will work well.

I am still woefully behind with my Christmas cards but I think I have most of my presents sorted.

So better get a move on with my card makes otherwise it will be the usual panic session taking place to get them all done.......................................

Some more...

...LOTV cuties.

I have been meaning to get some of the LOTV calendar fairies and finally treated myself during one of their recent sales. I haven't made any cards with the images yet but I have been playing with a bit of colouring.

This little miss is so cute playing around in the fallen leaves...

 ...she was such fun to colour but don't look too closely. I decided to add a bit of sparkle after I had fussy cut the image and horror of horrors - I dropped the Spectrum sparkle pen lid and it had ink inside which splashed all over the place (including my image). Most mopped off but my little miss has rather a 'glow' around her neck & chin area...oops.

With Halloween fast approaching, this little cutie is just perfect...

...I think she is destined for a treat bag rather than a card - I kept the sparkle pens away from this one LOL.

Autumn has certainly arrived in my neck of the woods. ......................................

A little bit of...

...colouring in.

A short while ago, the lovely folk at Lili of the Valley had a sale and it was too good a bargain to miss. As a result I stocked up on quite a few digi images.

I love stamps (and have quite a few **rollseyes**) but I find digis so useful as you can size them to suit what you want to make.

I was very quick off the mark getting all my new purchases printed but that was as far as it got - there never seemed to be a spare moment to sit and just colour. That was solved when I went to Carol Whalley's crop at the Toby carvery. Here are three of the images that I managed to play with...

...these Christmas ladies are beautiful (I have yet to finish the 4th one in the set).

Christmas is fast approaching - yep, they are already advertising the Christmas Movie Channel which starts the weekend after next and then goes 'full-time' from 21 October - just where has the year gone to?

Every year I say I must be more organised for the Christmas season and every year we get to this point and I start to panic. Well at least this year my 'special' Christmas cards are all done it is just the batch cards that are lacking in numbers. At the moment there are...NONE...as I can't make up my mind on a design.

Well if anything is going to get done I need to get my rear in gear and make a start. I'll let you know what I decide upon - if the broadband plays nice.....................................................

Today is our weekly...

..."Craft & Chatter" at work.

We will be doing a count up of the mini hats made so far.

At last weeks gathering we had a display table of the different types of craft that folk have been doing. This was in sup[port of a "Health & Wellbeing" event that was being held in the building and there were various talks & stalls set up in different parts of the office.

There were examples of cardmaking as well as the knitting & crochet...

...with a selection of seasonal and general cards...

 ...the mini hats were very popular...

 ...and the basic knitted squares seemed to prompt a few folk to consider getting their needles out...

 ...but surprisingly, these Christmas cards with images of the Bugaboo character "JJ"...

...seemed to catch more attention and we may have a few folk join us to make a few cards.

It will be interesting to see how many 'new' folk turn up for the group today.

In the meantime, the knitting needles are still clicking away and we will have to see what our total number of mini hats has reached as we will be packaging them up next week to send off.....................

Knit & Natter...

...has become a bit more "Craft & Chatter".

The knitting & crochet are still going strong...

...as you can see from this beanie hat that has been completed on a knitting loom. However, we now have quite a few folk pop in just for a bit of 'colouring in'...

 ...often for just 10 or 20 mins but they are enjoying being able to get away from their desks to do something a little creative.
Most folk who come along to knit have their own projects that they are working on but over the months we have managed to complete these squares...

...and there are another two almost finished so we will have our first cot blanket completed by the group. The squares tend to be something that folk 'pick up' out of our supplies box to do if they have forgotten to bring their own project with them.

The group is continuing well and it is lovely to see that we have some regulars as well as a few folk who only pop in now and then. It was well worthwhile starting this group and so lovely seeing what folk have made over the time that we have been meeting.............................................................

Some bits & pieces...

...that we made during our weekend away.

Rene had a cute Woodware stamp of a little patchwork elephant...

 ...she was on a bit of a roll with paper piecing the image as you can see.
I had picked up some clear stamps from the Range just the week before...

 ...and for just £2 the set contained a scene, a figure...

...and a small scene along with some sentiments. The large scene stamp was stamped directly onto the card blank...

...and jus a faint wash of colour was added to the sky.
The figure was coloured and then fussy cut...

...and the small scene was coloured with a bit more detail.
 I'm not too sure about the end result...

 ...but I think the stamps are wonderful and such a bargain for just £2.
This was a little decoupage topper that I had prepared but hadn't used...

...a bit of gold mirri to matt the topper and some PP along with some toning ribbon and a quick & easy Christmas card was added to my stash.

The lovely thing about the craft weekend is that you can do what you like, when you like.

Everyone had a good selection of crafting goodies with them and there was card making, scrapbooking, knitting and crochet going on throughout the weekend......................................

Kicking off...

...our weekend away.

Before our weekend, I'd paid a visit to Poundland and bought some packs of A6 hardbound note books and a selection of paper pads. The idea being that we could all participate in a common project but we could see the different ideas that we each had.

So for my notebook...

 ...out came the DST. Then I had to decide what papers to use...

 ...I went with some papers from the pad called "Pure Frozen" - lots of lovely blues & aqua colours to choose from. Crafting with friends is great as there is always something different to use...

...this was one of Carol's 'power punches'. They are made by Fiskars and it is amazing what they will punch through.
A bit of ribbon and some bling...

 ...and my book was done. The punched shape in the middle...

 ...is backed with aqua glitter paper but no matter how I tried to photograph this it really doesn't show.

This was Carol's finished book...

Chris went all buttons & bling...

I made a start on a second book...

 ...even the inside got some pretty paper.

Rene had a seasonal mix. The papers were from the Autumn pad and she hand coloured the daffs before fussy cutting...

Alison went for some butterflies...

What a fun way to start the weekend and we all now have a pretty notebook to jot down ideas in or give away as a little gift.

The weather outside was rather wet and blustery but we didn't care - we were crafting and having fun..............................................................

Chalkola review...

...part 2.

So I wanted to try the Chalkola ink markers on some different surfaces. I had already had a play on the whiteboards at work so now I wanted to try some glass and acetate.

One clean and dry jam jar at the ready and I was all set to see what I could do...

 ...the two packs of pens that I was sent - 'Earth' and 'Party' - provided a good selection of colours.
Starting with a white pen I created some 'snow' around the base of the jar...

 ...I wasn't sure what would be the best way of applying the colour - circle motion or straight strokes - it didn't really matter as the white gave a good coverage using either method.
Having let the white dry for a few moments...

 ...I had a go at adding a bare tree. Then a house...

 ...and I thought a fir tree was also needed. I added the green first of all...

 ...leaving gaps where the 'snow' would sit and then added the white to complete the look.
A second fir tree put in an appearance and then I let loose with the snow fall...

 ...the large bullet nib on the pens is perfect for applying the random dots...

 ...creating a pretty Winter scene ready to house a t-light.

The next thing I wanted to try with the pens was to see just how detailed an image I could get.

This adorable stamp is one I bought a while ago...

 ...and this is what it looks like coloured with my normal medium of choice - Copics...

 ...and as you can see, the shading is easy when you have almost 200 shades to chose from.
I placed a sheet of acetate over the stamped image and started to apply the Chalkola colours...

 ...starting with the hat. The pen sets I have been sent contain white but no grey so I used the pale blue to give texture to the fur trim - leaving the white to dry before adding the blue. The moisture of the pen ink does pick up a little of the previous colour but a quick scribble on a piece of scrap paper soon cleans that off. Across the two packs of pens there were two purples of different shades which helped to complete the hat. Having just one brown I had to use the cream coloured pen for the highlighted areas of the fur. I applied the cream first and when dry, went back with the brown. A bit of black & white for the nose & eyes and I was all done.
I found that by flipping the acetate over...

 ...the image from the reverse was more pleasing.
As for the t-light holder...

...not too bad is it.

The ink in the Chalkola pens applies smoothly and as long as you don't over prime the pens to get the ink flowing they give a nice even coverage. I found it easier to let each colour dry before moving on to the next colour - there will still be a bit of transference (especially on glass or acetate) but the lovely thing about these pens is that if you really don't like what has happened...grab a wet tissue or a wet-wipe and clean it off ready to start again.

The limited colours mean you have to think outside of the box a little bit. Users of Promarkers, Spectrum Noir or Copics will be used to having a much wider colour range at their finger tips but even with these limited colours it is still possible to create something quite detailed. You are not blending like you would with alcohol pens but laying the colours side by side. A little bit of blending does take place where colours overlap but I found things looked a bit messy if you tried to blend things on purpose - perhaps I just need a bit more practice but I feel these pens work best as they are.

Not sure what type of surface - it might even be a chalkboard.....................................................

Knit & Natter...

...continues to grow.

We even have some colouring going on.

Poundland had some card packs that you can colour yourself...

...this one was coloured with pencils and had some glitter glue added...

 ...we have had a few folk drop by just for a bit of 'colouring & chat'.
The knitting side is going very well...

...we have a number of completed blanket squares and quite a few 'on the go'.
Crochet has proved to be very popular and one lady has been quite productive. She has made a small cot blanket using crochet flower granny squares, a pullover for her grandson and is now onto another set of flower granny squares. Meanwhile...

 ...I'm still plodding on with my car blanket.
The knitting looms have proved to be very popular and we now have four of the group members merrily 'playing' with them...

 ...here is a completed child's set (hat & scarf) which is now for sale on our RNLI table.
Francis is probably our most proficient knitter. About 3 weeks ago she bought some lovely blue yarn...

 ...the hat is what she made with the 'leftovers' because the rest was used for this...

...a beautiful Aran-style cardigan which she has found to be lovely and cosy now the temperatures have dropped so much recently.

The group is proving to be popular and folk are most disappointed if something crops up so they can't attend. It is very informal and folk can pop in at any time during the 2hrs that we have the room booked for. I'm glad that people have found it to be something they wanted to take part in..........................................................